Who is Aslan? - Part I

“Who is Aslan?” asked Susan.

“Aslan?” said Mr. Beaver, “Why don’t you know? He’s the King. He’s the Lord of the whole wood, but not often here, you understand. Never in my time or my father’s time. But the word has reached us that he has come back. He is in Narnia at this moment. He’ll settle the White Queen all right. It is he, not you, that will save Mr. Tumnus.”

“She won’t turn him into stone too?” said Edmund.

“Lord love you, Son of Adam, what a simple thing to say!” answered Mr. Beaver with a great laugh. “Turn him into stone? If she can stand on her two feet and look him in the face it’ll be the most she can do and more than I expect of her. No, no. He’ll put all to rights as it says in an old rhyme in these parts: —

Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.

You’ll understand when you see him.”

“But shall we see him?” asked Susan.

“Why daughter of Eve, that’s what I brought you here for. I’m to lead you where you shall meet him,” said Mr. Beaver.

“Is—is he a man?” asked Lucy.

“Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the Great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion—the Lion, the great Lion.”

“Ooh!” said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver, “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”


Excerpt from 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' by C.S. Lewis, 1950.
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Who is Aslan? A simple, self-described “children’s tale” of adventure and fantastical journeys beyond most mortal imaginations speaks more truth than meets the ordinary eye.

By using some simple logic and reasoning, putting together some context clues and realizing whom the author is: it does not take too much prying to realize who Aslan is to Narnia. He is the savior, he is the son of the Great Emperor; he himself is the King. He is The Lion, the ultimate foe to the wicked Queen and the fulfiller of ancient prophecies. He is the ruler, the good leader and the powerful warrior.

No one dares put him inside a box of his or her own making. No one dares come before him unannounced with cruel intent or selfish motives in their hearts. No one can look directly at him with knees unfettered and hearts at a normal rate. Aslan is the one about whom everyone talks and very few have seen. He is the one who will come in his Kingdom’s time of need in order to make things right once again. He has been here and he will be coming back.

Aslan is a Lion — a fierce, snarling brute with fire in his eyes and thunder in his step. His roar is all-powerful and unadulterated as his enemies know their fate even before it befalls them.

Notice how the beaver reacts when the little girl asks if Aslan is safe… “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe.”

Does he sound safe? He is a warrior, a King, a wild creature and he is a lion for crying out loud. What ever gave any of us the impression he was safe? Where does it say he is safe? He is anything but safe, and yet we want him to be safe because we are in denial that Narnia is in eternal winter. But Narnia is under the curse of winter — forever winter with no Christmas. And yet we prefer to maintain the status quo and not rock any boats. We want him to be safe because that keeps us out of danger — or so we think. But maybe this is because it has been winter for so long we forgot what the sunshine and a crystal clear blue sky look like.

Though he is anything but safe, we do know one thing for sure. And the simple beaver lays it right out there to the little girl who is undoubtedly shaking in her proverbial boots after learning about this Lion. “Course he isn’t safe,” the beaver says, “But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

His goodness is known beyond the shadow of a doubt. He is unpredictable, all-powerful and omniscient; he possesses a roar to move mountains and a bite that could slay his foes in one fell swoop. BUT HE IS GOOD. We need not run from him in fear, but rather we must fearfully bow before him. He is after all, The King.

Know him, follow him, trust him, obey him, believe in him, submit to him and love him.

“I wept and wept and wept that no one was found able to open the scroll, able to read it. One of the Elders said, ‘Don’t weep. Look — the lion from Tribe Judah, the Root of David’s Tree, has conquered. He can open the scroll, can rip through the seven seals.”
Revelation 5:4-5 (The Message)

“I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary.”
John 10:10-11 (The Message)